Tax dodge jail time increased

By Marissa Calligeros

Two Queensland accountants and a Victorian tax agent will spend at least three years behind bars after jail time for their roles in a multimillion-dollar tax dodge was increased upon appeal today.

Ian Sidney Henke, 74, Robin David Huston, 65, and Brian Francis Fox, 58, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth of more than $4.59 million at the conclusion of a Supreme Court trial in March this year.

The trio devised, promoted and implemented the scheme between July 1, 1999 and May 23, 2001, which involved setting up offshore bank accounts and companies.

Through a series of elaborate and fraudulent transactions the men shifted the assets of various companies into the names of their former directors, before closing the businesses without paying off their tax debt.

Henke, a tax agent from Melbourne and the controlling mind of the company Institute of Taxation Research Pty Ltd, was initially sentenced to four and a half years in prison to be released on parole after 12 months.

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His co-accused Fox, from the Sunshine Coast, was imprisoned for three years and nine months to be released on parole after serving nine months.

Huston, from Samford northwest of Brisbane, was initially sentenced to four years jail to be released on parole after 10 months.

However, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions appealed their sentences on the grounds they were "manifestly inadequate".

The CDPP claimed the sentencing judge did not give sufficient weight to the circumstances of the case and gave too much weight to the mitigating factors, including the impact their time in prison would have on their families.

Meanwhile, Henke, Huston and Fox launched an appeal against their convictions and requested a re-trial, claiming evidence submitted before the Supreme Court was unreliable.

However, Justices John Muir, Richard Chesterman and Margaret Wilson of the Court of Appeal dismissed the trio's requests and instead ruled in favour of the CDPP, saying sentences in such cases should do more than "pay lip service" to the need for general deterrence and "vindicate honest tax payers".

Henke's sentence was increased from four and half years to six years imprisonment. He will now spend at least three years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

Fox will spend the next two years and six months in prison, after his sentence was increased to five years.

Huston will be imprisoned for three years, as his head sentence was increased from four to six years.

"The offending here was serious, protracted and grossly dishonest," Justice Muir said in his written judgment.

"It was embarked upon by Henke and Huston for personal gain."

Henke pocketed about $145,000 for his part in the scheme, while Huston received $40,000 and Fox gained professional fees through promoting the schemes with his clients.

"It put at risk about $4.5 million of Commonwealth revenue," Justice Muir said.

"The effect of evading tax liability is to deprive the community of revenue needed to provide government services and to impose an unfair burden on those who act honestly."